1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor design technology, and more particularly, to an internal voltage generation circuit which operates in a standby mode and an active mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor devices generally are provided with power by an external power supply voltage. The semiconductor devices generate an internal power supply voltage based on the external power supply voltage. For this reason, a semiconductor device includes an internal voltage generation circuit for generating an internal power supply voltage. The semiconductor device may include a plurality of internal voltage generation circuits. Each of the internal voltage generation circuits may supply the intern power supply voltage to the corresponding region of the semiconductor device.
Meanwhile, a semiconductor device operates in a standby mode and an active mode. Here, the standby mode means an operation mode where the semiconductor device prepares to enter the active mode in response to an active command while using a minimum amount of power. The active mode means an operation mode where the semiconductor device performs a read operation or a write operation.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional internal voltage generation circuit.
Referring to FIG. 1, the internal voltage generation circuit includes a peripheral power supply voltage generation unit 110 and a main power supply voltage generation unit 120.
The peripheral power supply voltage generation unit 110 supplies a power supply voltage VPERI1 or VPERI2 to a circuit disposed in a peripheral region and the peripheral power supply voltage generation unit 110 includes a peripheral standby driver 111 and a peripheral active driver 112 responding to mode control signals MD_STB and MD_ACT.
The main power supply voltage generation unit 120 supplies a power supply voltage VMAIN1 or VMAIN2 to a circuit disposed in a main region and the main power supply voltage generation unit 120 includes a main standby driver 121 and a main active driver 122 responding to the mode control signals MD_STB and MD_ACT. Here, the peripheral power supply voltage generation unit 110 and the main power supply voltage generation unit 120 are disposed separately, and the peripheral power supply voltage generation unit 110 drive a peripheral power supply voltage terminal V_PRI in a standby mode and an active mode, whereas the main power supply voltage generation unit 120 drives a main power source voltage terminal V_MN.
As described above, since the internal voltage generation circuit has an independent structure, that is, respective voltage generation units for the voltage supply terminals, the internal voltage generation circuit may prevent a power drop from occurring in the active mode. Even if a power supply voltage drop may occurs, the internal voltage generation circuit may be easy to make the power supply voltage rebound back to a target voltage. However, since the internal voltage generation circuit has the independent structure, the independent structure may increase the amount of standby current by excessively supplying a power supply voltage in the standby mode.